Items that are routinely consumed in the process of conducting business or providing services, such as in a hospital, clinic or industrial supply room are typically stored in bins or storage modules positioned on shelves, or sometimes directly on shelves. As the stock or quantity of any particular item is depleted, it is important that the stock of that particular item is replenished. This can be of critical importance in the case of medical supplies. It is desirable and customary that a reliable protocol is established for generating or prompting the generation of a restocking order well before there is risk that supplies will be completely depleted and unavailable when needed. Preferably, the restocking protocol includes apparatus that compel medical technicians or business personnel to generate or prompt generation of a restocking order when the remaining stock of any particular stored item is depleted to a predetermined quantity.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,326,604, assigned to LogiQuip, LLC, Galesburg, Mich., describes an inventory system for wire baskets or shelves, which includes a pivoting divider unit that subdivides individual bins into front and rear sections and which is pivotable between an upright position that facilitates access to items stored in the front section and a forwardly-lowered position that facilitates access to items stored in the rear section when the items in the front section are completely depleted. The divider can include a display panel that is visible when the divider is in the forwardly-lowered position and includes an indication or cue that restocking should soon occur. The indication can, for example, be a bar code that can be scanned with a reading device to detect the type of article and generate a replenishment order.
An object of this disclosure is to improve on the reliability of existing systems and reduce dependence on human participation in the process of generating a replenishment order. Another object is to incorporate apparatuses and methods that enable generation and tracking of data relating to the condition of stored items.